BIRD INTIMACIES 



but does not lend a hand, or a bill. I think the 

 cock wren assists in nest-building. I know the 

 male cedar-bird does, and probably the male wood- 

 peckers do also. The male rose-breasted grosbeak 

 assists in incubation, and has been seen to sing 

 upon the nest. It seems fair to infer that he assists 

 in the nest-building also, but I am not certain that 

 he does, and I have heard another observer state 

 that in a nest which he watched the female ap- 

 parently did it all. 



My catbirds both worked overtime one afternoon 

 at least, being on their job as late as seven o'clock. 

 In three days the nest was done, all but touching 

 up the interior. During the construction I laid 

 out pieces of twine and bits of white paper on the 

 bushes and wire netting, also some loose material 

 from the outside of the old nest; all was quickly 

 used. How much labor the birds would have saved 

 themselves had they pulled the old nest to pieces 

 and used the material a second time! I have 

 known the oriole to start a nest, then change her 

 mind, and then detach some of her strings and 

 fibers and carry them to the new site; and I once 

 saw a "chebec" whose eggs had been destroyed pull 

 the old nest to pieces and rebuild it in a tree a 

 hundred feet away. 



The male catbird is slightly brighter and fresher- 

 looking than his mate, but we could easily tell her 

 by her often simulating the actions of a young bird 



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